| Year of Study | NES Dataset ID | ICPSR Study Number | Design Features | Number of Cases | Number of Variables | Special Themes and New Topics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 1948.T | 7218 | All Respondents were interviewed in the Post; 84 respondents were not interviewed in the Pre | 662 | 64 | Foreign Affairs |
| 1952 | 1952.T | 7213 | 100 Respondents were only interviewed in the Post | 1899 | 295 | Organizational affiliations; non-political attitudes |
| 1956 | 1956.T | 7214 | The first of a panel of three; the other two consist of the 1958 and 1960 National Election Studies. Only Respondents who gave both Pre and Post interviews are included in the release dataset | 1762 | 354 | Attitudes toward Communism and desegregation, perception of group behavior. |
| 1958 | 1958.T | 7215 | Most of the 1958 respondents were interviewed previously in 1956. Respondents who had not been interviewed in 1956 were selected from dwelling units vacated by 1956 respondents (movers). | 1450 | 317 | Representation: interviews simultaneously conducted with congressional candidates in congressional districts of the cross-section sample. |
| 1960 | 1960.T | 7216 | Most of the 1960 respondents were interviewed previously in 1956 and/or 1958. Those new to the sample were selected from dwelling units vacated by 1958 respondents. | 1181 | 338 | Attention to presidential debates. |
| 1962 | 1962.T | 7217 | Part of the SRC Fall omnibus; slightly different within household respondent selection procedures apply. | 1297 | 109 | Economic and political attitudes, family expectations and personal information. |
| 1964 | 1964.TV | 7235 | Sample includes a special supplement for Black respondents (N=263) | 1834 | 536 | First Voter Validation; included in the data file. First use of 'feeling thermometer' (groups). |
| 1966 | 1966.T | 7259 |   | 1291 | 298 | Attitudes and knowledge about the Supreme Court. |
| 1968 | 1968.T | 7281 | Sample includes a special supplement for Black respondents (N=116). | 1673 | 613 | Confidence levels in government; voting on ballot propositions; local education. |
| 1970 | 1970.T | 7298 | Sample includes a special supplement of Black respondents (N=114). 18-20 year olds were interviewed, although not eligible to vote until 1972. Study has two forms in order to maximize content. | 1694 | 426 | Order experiment on feeling thermometer; focus on 1970 congressional elections. |
| 1972 | 1972.T | 7010 | First wave of a panel design (1972-1974 and 1972-1974-1976). Both Pre and Post used two forms to maximize content. | 2705 | 1144 | Quality of life, economic well-being, attitudes on race and women's issues. |
| 1974 | 1974.T | 7355 | The study was designed to produce both a representative cross section of U.S. citizens and to be the second part of a three wave panel (1972-74-76) and first part of a 2-wave panel (1974-1976). 16- and 17- year olds were eligible but not included in the released data. | 1575 | 566 | Media use patterns, in conjunction with media content analysis only. |
| 1976 | 1976.T | 7381 | The study was designed to produce both a representative cross-section of U.S. adult citizens and to complete a continuing empanelment of cases (1972-1974-1976 and 1974-1976). | 2248 | 954 | Impact of media and presidential debates on political learning; perceptions of economic conditions; quality of life; measures of self-esteem and trust. |
| 1978 | 1978.TVX | 7655 | Congressional districts (N=108) as well as individuals were sampled. Contextual data about these congressional districts and the election campaigns therein is included in the dataset and also in six supplemental files. | 2304 | 1331 | Introduced greatly expanded Congressional context, most of which became "core" items repeated in each subsequent survey. Major emphasis was placed on the respondents' evaluations of their district's candidates along several dimensions; and on how much and what kinds of contact Rs had with candidates. Specific candidate/incumbent names are associated with each congressional district. Voter validation variables are included. |
| 1980 | 1980.TVX | 7763 | As in 1978, the primary sampling area was the congressional district. Sample for the pre-election study was released in two halves: September 1st and October 1st. The PrePost study is only one part of the entire 1980 study, which is comprised of several data collections representing surveys conducted throughout strategically chosen periods in the course of the election year (see also the 1980 Major Panel and the 1980 Integrated File). Contextual data are included with this (the Time-series) file. | 1614 | 1433 | New measurement of party identification, voter attitudes concerning issues of public policy, public perceptions of and responses to political leadership, (i.e. introduction of "traits and affects" measures) and exploration of social networks role in vote choice. Vote validation data are included. |
| 1982 | 1982.T | 9042 | Returns to the primary area of the SRC sampling frame. | 1418 | 779 | Evaluations of President Reagan's performance in office. |
| 1984 | 1984.TV | 8298 | Pre-election sample was released in two week quarter-samples, so contamination of date of interview by ease of getting interview is minimized. Half of the Post-election interviews were conducted by telephone, half in person. | 2257 | 1141 | New topic areas include measures of "predispositions" such as individualism and egalitarianism. Vote validation data are included. |
| 1986 | 1986.TV | 8678 | Two questionnaire forms were used; about 3/4 of the items on each form are in common. | 2176 | 909 | In addition to core items, new content includes questions on values, political knowledge, attitudes on racial policy as well as more general predisposition to racial attitudes. Form A content related to presidential evaluation; Form B content was related to racial attitudes. Vote validation data are included. |
| 1988 | 1988.TV | 9196 | Two forms were used, in both the Pre and the Post which maximized content and also allowed extensive experiments in the survey response. | 2040 | 1396 | Retrospective evaluations of the Reagan presidency; evaluations of presidential primary candidates; new measures of system support and efficacy; vote validation is included. |
| 1990 | 1990.TV | 9548 | Two survey forms were used; about 75% of content in common. First wave of the 1990-91-92 Panel. | 1980 | 803 | Form A emphasis on values and individualism; Form B on foreign affairs. Also, both forms contained questions on Persian Gulf conflict. Vote validation data are included. |
| 1992 | 1992.TN | 6067 | Half of the respondents were first interviewed in 1990. The other half are part of a freshly drawn cross-section sample. Some of these panel respondents were also interviewed in 1991. The 2485 cases constitute a nationally representative cross-sample. | 2485 | 2105 | New content on racial and ethnic stereotypes; attitudes toward immigration and feminist consciousness; assessments of U.S. involvement in Persian Gulf conflict, the Perot candidacy. Vote validation was not done. |
| 1994 | 1994.TN | 6507 | 759 respondents were first interviewed in 1992. The remaining 1036 are part of a freshly drawn cross-section sample. 635 panel respondents were also interviewed in 1993. The 1795 cases constitute a nationally representative cross-section sample. | 1795 | 2205 | Securing electoral success for the Clinton Coalition and First-term members of Congress; content on welfare reform and health care. |
| 1996 | 1996.TX | 6896 | 1714 respondents include all respondents from the 1996 Pre-Post. About three-fourths of these (or 1316 respondents) also participated in either the preceding time-series studies (1994 Post-Election survey) or in the two preceding time-series studies (both the 1992 PrePost and the 1994 Post). | 1714 | 1850* | Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) content; the Congressional campaign; issue coverage; issue importance and uncertainty; the environment; social capital; media exposure; contextual data; mode of interview experiment. |
| 1998 | 1998.T | 2684 | Mode Experiment in which cases were assigned to either telephone or face to face mode at the sample segment level. | 1281 | 739 | The Congressional Traits section (allowing comparative evaluation of the President and Congress), role of religion and religious institutions in society and politics, and items relating to the Clinton-Lewinsky scandals, and some new questions on key issues such as late-term abortions, school vouchers, foreign imports, and immigration. |
| 2000 | 2000.T | 3131 | The sample was split by mode and selection procedure: 801 Pre Respondents were selected by RDD sampling and interviewed by phone; 1006 Pre Respondents were selected using probability area sampling and interviewed in person. (694 Post reinterviews were in person and 862 Post reinterviews were by phone.) | 1807 | 1887 | New content on social trust, social networks and cognitive style. Experiments: branching/scale format (numerous), response order effects (government/private health insurance), don't know effects (numerous), balancing effects (affirmative action), voter turnout, agree/disagree format versus alternative choice format (isolationism). |
*Excludes 1996 detailed group variables found only in the raw ASCII data file (not in released SAS/SPSS system files; column locations found in codebook appendix).